Pig (2021 film)

Pig is a 2021 American drama film written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (in his feature directorial debut), from a story by Vanessa Block and Sarnoski. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a truffle-hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness and must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped. It also stars Alex Wolff and Adam Arkin.

Pig was theatrically released in the United States on July 16, 2021, by Neon. Critics praised its screenplay and Cage's performance. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and earned Cage a second nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor.

Plot
Robin "Rob" Feld is a reclusive truffle-forager who was once a renowned Portland chef. Living in a cabin deep in the Oregon forests, he hunts for truffles with the help of his prized foraging pig. Rob sells the truffles exclusively to Amir, a young and inexperienced supplier of luxury ingredients to high-end restaurants.

One night, Rob is attacked by unidentified assailants as they steal his pig. He contacts Amir, who helps him locate a pair of bedraggled drug addicts suspected by another local truffle-hunter. They claim the pig was taken to Portland.

After his old friend Edgar refuses to help, Rob leads Amir to an underground fighting ring for restaurant people below the defunct Portland Hotel, saying certain names carry cachet. Rob identifies himself to the crowd, then allows himself to be beaten to a pulp by a waiter in exchange for Edgar's information.

Shocked to learn his identity, the following morning Amir reveals that his parents had such a miserable marriage that the only happy time he remembers is a night when they had dinner at Rob's restaurant, before his mother died by suicide. Rob asks Amir to secure reservations at Eurydice, a trendy haute cuisine restaurant Amir's father does business with. Rob visits the house he used to live in with his wife Lori, whose death compelled Rob to withdraw to the woods.

At Eurydice, Rob asks to meet with its head chef, Derek, a former prep cook at Rob's restaurant. Rob pointedly yet empathetically criticizes Derek for opening a contemporary restaurant rather than the pub he always wanted to run. Overwhelmed by the memory of his dream and the reality of his current circumstances, Derek confesses that Amir's wealthy father, Darius, was behind the theft of Rob's pig, having learned of its existence from Amir. Rob angrily ends his partnership with Amir before going to confront Darius at his home. Darius offers Rob $25,000 in exchange for the pig and threatens to kill it if Rob continues his pursuit.

Rob leaves, finding Amir waiting outside, having just left his comatose mother in a care facility, revealing she is still alive. Rob admits he does not need his pig to hunt truffles, because the trees tell him where they are; he wants to find her simply because he loves her. He gives Amir a list of items and tells him to use Rob's name to obtain them.

Rob visits his former baker for a salted baguette and a few pastries he shares with Amir before they go back to Darius's house. Rob guides Amir as they prepare the same meal for Darius that Rob served to him and his wife, including a rare wine from Rob's personal collection, which Amir obtained from the woman caring for the mausoleum containing Lori's ashes.

All three men sit down to eat together, despite Darius's resistance. An emotional Darius leaves the table after just a few tastes. When Rob follows and confronts him, Darius asks why he is doing this, and Rob says he remembers every meal he ever cooked and every person he ever served. Darius tearfully confesses that the junkies he hired for the theft mishandled the pig, resulting in her death. Rob collapses in tears, and a remorseful Amir drives him back to a diner near Rob's home in the forest. Despite Amir's foolishness, Rob says he will see him next Thursday.

Returning to his forest, Rob washes his bloody face in the lake, before returning to his cabin to play a tape Lori recorded of herself singing Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" to him for his birthday.

Cast

 * Nicolas Cage as Robin "Rob" Feld
 * Brandy The Pig as The Pig
 * Alex Wolff as Amir
 * Adam Arkin as Darius
 * Nina Belforte as Charlotte
 * Gretchen Corbett as Mac
 * David Knell as Chef Derek Finway
 * Beth Harper as Donna/Diner Waitress
 * Darius Pierce as Edgar
 * Cassandra Violet as Lorelai "Lori" Feld

Production
In September 2019, it was announced Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff had joined the cast of the film, with Michael Sarnoski directing from a screenplay he wrote.

Principal photography began September 23, 2019, in Portland, Oregon, lasting 20 days.

Release
In March 2020, Neon acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. Pig had a theatrical release in the United States on July 16, 2021, followed by screenings in the UK and Republic of Ireland on August 20, 2021.

Box office
The film grossed $945,000 in 552 theaters in its first opening weekend. It additionally grossed $565,000 in its second weekend.

Critical response
The site's critics consensus reads, "Like the animal itself, Pig defies the hogwash of expectations with a beautiful odyssey of loss and love anchored by Nicolas Cage's affectingly raw performance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a score of four out of four stars, writing: "The unpredictable Cage delivers some of his best work in years." Bilge Ebiri of Vulture gave the film a positive review and stated, "As it proceeds, it expands its vision and compassion, even as it de-escalates the tension. It's not about the thing it's about, except that it ultimately is totally about the thing it's about." Richard Whittaker of The Austin Chronicle gave the film four-and-a-half out of five stars and stated, "At a time when so many people are struggling to find something of value in their lives, when people are fleeing jobs, cities, futures they thought they wanted, Cage has crafted a quiet soliloquy about grasping onto something that has meaning."

Thelma Adams of AARP Movies for Grownups gave the film four out of five stars and stated, "Playing oddly against expectations, there's no Cage Rage, no showy violence or operatic monologues, just a simple, moving story of a broken man who lost his pig but, perhaps, has found his way." Johnny Oleksinski of The New York Post gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "[an] undeniably odd, but surprisingly touching drama."

Karen Han of Slate gave the film a positive review and stated, "Pig is a small film with a few big surprises executed very well, and well worth going into as blind as possible." Mike D'Angelo of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade of "A", writing that "There are no plot twists, in the traditional sense, but each successive encounter reveals a new facet that enriches the tale." Carlos Aguilar of TheWrap gave the film a positive review, writing, "Not all the ingredients make sense together, but the product of their intermingling inside the filmmaker's narrative plot render a special concoction." Noel Murray, in his review of the film for the Los Angeles Times, wrote that, "Though its plot follows the same rough outline of a John Wick-style shoot-em-up, Pig is actually a quiet and often melancholy meditation on loss, anchored by a character who wishes he could shake free of the person he used to be."

Kristy Puchko, in her review of the film for Pajiba, wrote: "Pig is not only a mesmerizing while meditative drama about love and loss. It is also a powerful reminder that Cage is one of the most talented, most captivating movie stars of our time." Cody Corrall of the Chicago Reader gave the film a positive review and stated, "Even through its various webs of tragedy, relentless ambition, and destruction for capital gain&mdash;Pig remarkably and overwhelmingly champions care and kindness." Randy Myers of The Mercury News gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and stated, "It is Cage who carries Pig with a measured performance in which his trademark outbursts pierce the soul. He's magnificent."

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, writing that, "While Pig can at times feel engulfed by its own sullenness, there's a rigor to the filmmaking and a surreal beauty to Pat Scola's images that seal our investment in Robin's fate." Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of four stars, and wrote: "What a beguiling, confounding film Pig is. From start to finish, it never moves as you might expect it to." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post also gave the film four out of four stars, writing that "Pig 's stock in trade is a kind of visual and narrative poetry, and Sarnoski and Block ply it with the skill and light touch of master chefs." The Guardian's Benjamin Lee gave the film three out of five stars and stated, "It... hints at exciting things to come from Sarnoski, a gifted visual filmmaker, who has assembled a promising, if imperfect, debut."

Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "Whatever the screenplay's stumbles, Cage's contained performance embraces his character's losses and his turning away from the world without the slightest play for sympathy." Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine gave the film three out of four stars and stated, "Nicolas Cage, in full martyr mode here, seems to get off on the perversity of, well, caging his brand of operatic hysteria." Michael Nordine of Variety gave the film a positive review, concluding that, "As a descent into the apparently high-stakes world of truffle-pig-poaching, Pig is unexpectedly touching; as a showcase for Cage's brilliance, it's a revelation." Lauren Milici of Total Film praised the film, writing: "Blood and weapons aside, the film is a moving meditation on grief and loss, and how sometimes the only way to move on is to return to the place that broke us in the first place."

Ethan Brehm of Spoiler magazine named it the best film of the year.

Cage has stated that Pig is his favorite film that he has starred in to date, and considers it his best performance.

Gary M. Kramer, in a negative review of the film for Salon.com, wrote that "Pig doesn't give viewers much to care about, other than perhaps the title character. Sarnoski's film is undercooked."

Retrospective lists
The film has been cited among the best drama films of the 2020s by Collider and the bst independent films of the 21st century by IndieWire. Collider ranked the film at number 12 on its list of "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far", writing that the film "showed the world why Cage had become such an icon in the first place; he narrowed his focus and gave one of the most moving performances of his career as the former chef Rob."